You are the Answer {boyxboy} ✓ (Dogs, Bats & Monkeys series, Book I | Riley)

Chapter 27

A/N: I've entered YATA in the Wattys. Wish me luck!

Want to help? Recommend YATA to your friends if they like bxb and werewolf stories :)

Just a reminder: Jasper is the eldest son of the previous Alpha (Zachary) and Keri's cousin.

*****

I smiled as soon as I woke up. Or perhaps, I'd been smiling in my sleep. All I knew was that a huge grin was plastered on my face when I opened my eyes and found myself in the arms of the man I loved.

"Good morning," he murmured, kissing the back of my head and I turned around in his embrace to look at him.

"Good morning," I greeted in return and pecked him on the lips.

"How did you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well," I admitted. "I thought that with all that happened yesterday, I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink, but I guess having you here helped."

"I'm glad to hear to that." Rhys lifted his arm so he could caress my cheek. "Are you hungry yet?"

"Actually..." I retreated slightly so I could see him better. "You promised me to share a story of your own, remember? I'd rather listen to that than have breakfast."

Last night, I'd asked him about how he got his scars. I'd thought it was only fitting to do so after he'd heard the tale about mine. That was when Rhys had hugged me, telling me it was late and that we ought to rest. I'd agreed to that, but only after he'd given me his word that we'd talk about it in the morning.

"Not much to tell, really," he began. "One of the times that Everett tried to connect with Alec and convinced Anastasiya - that is Alec's mother - to let him stay with us, Jasper Owens spoke in some not so flattering terms about my brother. At first, he was talking about how now that Everett had fallen out of grace, he would inherit his father as the Alpha. That wasn't that bad; it was annoying more than infuriating. But when he called Everett a traitor, I snapped."

Rhys' forehead wrinkled and his grip on me tightened. He's voice got slightly shaky as he went on:

"I was a teenager, hormones were rushing and he had just insulted my brother. I faced him and told him to shut up. He laughed and said 'Or what?', I pushed him, he pushed me harder, I pushed again and he found himself on the ground... A moment later, he was already in his wolf form. He jumped on me, clawing my face and leaving these beauties." Rhys trailed a hand over his scars. "The fight didn't last very long. A little after I shifted, the adults intervened and put an end to it."

"Was Jasper punished?" I returned to my previous position, laying my head on his chest.

"Both of us were," he replied. "And justly so. He was the one to shift first, but I was the one to push him first; he'd called Everett a traitor, but I shouldn't have started a physical altercation."

"But he scared you!" I protested. "Now you have to live with these for the rest of your life."

"And now they serves as a good reminder of why one should not to rush into things. Besides, at the time everyone thought they would heal. They should have healed, perhaps leaving a very, very faint mark; no one knows for sure why they didn't."

"I don't understand this." I frowned. "You said that werewolves heal better than humans."

"True, but marks left to someone in their human form by someone in a wolf form are less likely to heal properly; some think that is the reason for my scars. And some - the more superstitious ones - believe that a wound caused by someone experiencing strong negative emotions such as anger and hate won't heal until the one who strikes and the one who got struck are at peace with each other. If that is true, my marks will remain forever as Jasper and I will never reconcile."